The “Cosima” in Friedenau has been making cinema history for over 70 years. Lothar Bellmann has been running it since the 1960s. Now he has received his notice – he should be out by June. Protest is stirring in the neighborhood.
Like all cinemas, the “Cosima” in Berlin-Friedenau is currently closed due to the pandemic. The crime comedy “A woman with intoxicating talents” with Isabelle Huppert was recently shown here before the movie theaters had to close again in November. It is uncertain when Lothar Bellmann will be allowed to reopen. Because: From June onwards, he will no longer run the cinema that he took over from his mother in the 1960s. The “Cosima” on Varziner Platz is an institution in Friedenau, not least thanks to Bellmann.
In November he received a surprise notice from the landlord of the house. He has to return the rooms by May 31st. A reason was not given. “You don’t do that. In the pandemic you don’t send out a notice!”, Bellmann told t-online. He lodged a direct objection, but Marcus Fritzsch, managing director of SPK Immobilien, is staying, as he confirmed to t-online on Friday.
New tenant should take over
The “Cosima” should remain a cinema, there is already a preliminary contract with the new tenant, says landlord Fritzsch. He doesn’t mention the name. Bellmann knows him: Karlheinz Opitz, head of the “Eva Lichtspiele” in Blissestrasse – according to his own statements, the oldest film theater in Wilmersdorf. Opitz recently successfully raised money for a new projector via crowdfunding. Cost: 60,000 euros. Bellmann suspects that the money should not only be used for this.
Opitz wrote on Friday in the online guest book of his cinema of “unfounded, evil allegations” on the part of Mr. Bellmann. The entry even mentions a “smear campaign or defamation campaign”. The donations for the projector would by no means be used to force Bellmann out of his lease, says Opitz. You have “discussed an amicable transfer”.
“I’m no longer wanted”
Bellmann remembers it differently: “They made arrangements behind my back – I am no longer wanted.” The handover to Opitz should only take place when Bellmann no longer wants or can no longer. And still he can. His whole life is in the cinema. “I’m 81, but healthy. I was there every day, never sick.”
The 81-year-old turned to politics in his need. The district councilor hurricane Özdemir started a petition on Tuesday that over 1,200 people had signed by the end. The problem with the matter: The termination is legal. “Our lawyers have checked it,” Özdemir told t-online. “Unfortunately there is no commercial rent protection in Berlin.” Özdemir thinks one should negotiate fairly with the man. This is what the petition says.
Friedenau stands behind Bellmann
Bellmann actually wanted to show more films this year. “Keep going as long as I can.” That is difficult enough in the pandemic. When the cinemas were allowed to reopen in summer, sometimes only two viewers sat in the 170-seat cinema.
“Berlin is the Kiezstadt, and without shops like the ‘Cosima’ we would lose a piece of our identity,” explains SPD man Özdemir. The whole neighborhood is behind Bellmann and the “Cosima”, he says. “The Friedenauers don’t like what’s happening here.”
Lothar Bellmann has been able to hope again since the weekend. “The two cinema operators have agreed to sit down again,” said Orkan Özdemir on Saturday via Facebook. “Both are primarily concerned with the cinema. The petition was therefore canceled.
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